Class VII: a Rider, a Agent, a Leader, a Player, a Swimmer, a Musician
by FerusOlan
Summary: A collection of stories of different members of Class VII and the people close to them and how they came to belong to each other. Jusis and Millium overcome the loneliness and pasts that separate them. Rean and Alisa finally find some common emotional ground, and Laura and Elliot find each other in a compromising situations. JusisxMillium ReanxAlisa LauraxElliot Bookworms
1. She's My (?)

I know I know. Ferus Olan, you don't just write Hopurai? Seriously tho, this is my first LOH fanfic attempt. Please review :)

Jusis x Millium arc: The Albarea Family's role in recent political events has taken its toll on the young Noble. Since the arrival of two new members of Class VII, his desire for a peaceful life appears to be even more unattainable. Millium is new to Class VII and has yet to make a real connection with anyone. Despite her attempts to appear cheerful, loneliness is a heavy cross to bear. But sometimes, you need more than just a friend...

 **1**

 **She's my…**

"Sir? Sir?"

Jusis turned his head to the voice that had interrupted him deep in thought. The young server who waited on him stood by his side and patiently awaited a response.

"Just coffee please," Jusis replied calmly.

"Of course." The young server turned away from him and carefully made her way back to the counter, her heels clicking gently against the floor.

Jusis let out a sigh as solitude overtook him again. Today had been a relatively trying day for the young noble. More news of militarization in the Kreuzen Province and consolidation of power by his father continued to disturb his peace. Rean had been supportive during these last few weeks, as well as his other classmates including Machias. Despite Machias' characteristic slurs against the irrevocable "horrors" of nobility and their poorly-guided attempts to direct the empire, even he seemed to be sympathetic in the end. Jusis allowed a smile to creep across his face as he pondered on his newfound friendships. Things were going better than they had been, at least at school, and Jusis had found a degree of peace and serenity in the people he had come to care for in Class VII.

*BANG*

Jusis was thrown from his peace and quiet into the harshness of reality. Recent events, or individuals, had made it difficult to regain his newfound peace and quiet. Even in the hallowed walls of Kirsche's Cafe and Inn, someone had found a way to make his waking moments a difficult burden to bear.

"Heya Jusis!" Millium declared as she slammed herself down onto Jusis' table, "What are you doing here?"

Jusis pinched the girl by her cheeks and forcefully guided her into a seat beside him. "Can't you exercise even a hint of tactfulness?! Show some respect to this establishment and the other patrons!"

"Me and Lammy were out shopping earlier! Do you like chocolates?" Millium asked excitedly.

Jusis stirred in annoyance. Millium, the source of his new daily disturbances, had made another appearance in his daily life. He had found a quiet table to himself here at Kirsche's and had hoped to keep it that way. "What concern is it of yours if I like chocolate?"

"Me and Lammy bought chocolates for someone but we want to know if they are any good," Millium said cheerfully.

"Then try them yourself."

"But me and Lammy can't have sweets until after dinner," Millium replied. Jusis wasn't sure of her sincerity in that last remark.

Jusis put his fingers to the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "Millium, just eat a piece of your chocolate and leave me alone, please. It's been a long day and I want to… stop that."

Millium prodded Jusis' face with a piece of chocolate in her outstretched hand. "Here. Try it," She offered with a smile.

"Millium, I am only going to ask you calmly one more time. Do you understand me?"

Jusis attempts to reason with the girl went unheeded as she continued to jab at his lips with a piece of chocolate. "I saved this one for you. Try it… Try it… Try it…"

"Millium, you do that again, and I will remove you from this establishment myself," Jusis warned as bits of chocolate smeared his lips and fell into his lap.

Millium continued her chocolate barrage as she climbed back onto the table with her knees to close the distance between the two. "Hey, do you think Rean thinks I'm pretty?"

"Excuse me?"

"If he thinks I'm pretty, then I must be pretty like the other girls, right?"

"If you wish to discuss this, do it with someone else." Jusis needed to nip this bud and quickly.

"Hey, Jusis?" Millium began, her movements ceasing as she was inches away from his face, "Do you think I'm pretty?"

Her inappropriate banter was more than enough to throw Jusis over the edge. Jusis swatted away her hand and attacked her cheeks with his pinched fingers as he painfully guided her way from his table by her face in the direction of the door.

"Owie! Jusis, stop! That hurts!" Millium's pleas did nothing to save her from the wrath of the frustrated noble.

Once Millium had stopped squirming and resided herself reluctantly into her chair, Jusis took his hands away from her red cheeks and watery eyes. "Are you finished?"

"Why did you do that?! I was just saying hi and offering you chocolate?!"

"You can greet others without making a public disturbance! Or are you incapable of such a simple task?!"

Millium crossed her arms and put her chin to her chest. "Maybe you're just a meanie…"

Jusis' server had returned during Millium's pouting to give him his coffee. Jusis sipped his drink as he continued to berate the ill-mannered girl.

"Do you not realize where you are? Do you know what uniform you wear? You represent not only yourself as a student of Thor's but a member of Class VII wherever you go. Your behavior is not only a reflection of yourself as a student and a servant of the public and citizenry but a classmate of mine as well. I will not stand for you to behave in public with such disregard and lack of consideration for the people around you and the needs of others. Do I make myself clear?"

"I'm sorry, okay?!" Millium exclaimed, her eyes as red and wet as salmon, "I just wanted to say hi, and I got excited when I saw you. I don't know that many people here and I don't have any friends and it was just nice to see someone I know."

"Then perhaps a simple 'hello' would suffice from now on," Jusis replied as he stood and placed a few mira on the table.

Before Jusis had a chance to leave Millium to her tears and make his way towards the door, a demandingly entitled voice pulled him back towards his table.

"Oh, dear. I see Instructor Sara and the director have no qualms against further muddying the pool of students in Class VII," The voice spat into the air.

Jusis turned to the unknown upper-class student and stepped between himself and a teary-eyed Millium.

The second-year upper-class student stepped to Jusis and continued his verbal barrage. "Personally, I would not stand for such churlish behavior by such an… underdeveloped classmate."

Jusis grit his teeth and clenched his fists as hot anger surged from his chest to his cheeks.

"Excuse me?" Jusis forced through his clenched teeth.

"Of course, seeing the two of you together here perhaps sheds some light on why you, Mr. Albarea, why tolerate such… immaturity. I would have never have guessed someone of your standing to be so interested in the… 'developing beauty' to be found in the cradle." Snickers and chuckles littered the lower floor of the cafe as the loose-tongued upper-class student continued to attack Jusis supposed choice of companionship. "Of course, the fresher the clay, the easier it is to mold, right Jusis?"

His anger came to a boiling point as Jusis raised his fist behind his shoulder and stepped forward. His anger guiding his actions, Jusis threw his fist forward only to be yanked backward into his table, knocking over his coffee mug onto the ground and shattering the ceramic. He turned his head to look behind him only to see the blue-haired girl hanging from his outstretched arm.

"Get off of me!" He roared at her as he shook her away from him.

Millium threw her arms around his waist and buried her head into his chest as she begged to stop. "Jusis, stop! Don't do this! This isn't right! Why are you doing this?! This isn't you!"

"Mind your place, Millium! Stop crying and let go of me! Show some dignity!" Jusis ordered.

Millium, in her usual course, disobeyed him and dug her fingertips into his waist as her arms constricted around him. Her weight dragging him down, Jusis gave into her pleas as his arm fell to his side. His own faculties regaining control and his anger subsiding, Jusis noticed the pain in his chest and waist as her arms wrapped around him.

"Please, stop Jusis. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'll be good. I promise, please…" Millium's words were muffled by Jusis tear-stained shirt and her own heightened anxiety.

Jusis wrestled the distraught girl from his body and set her down in her chair. He turned and stepped to the upper-classmen and spoke calmly into his ear. "I don't know you-you think you are, but a good, righteous, and honourable noble would never say such impudent and venereal slurs. I am ashamed of my own nobility because of you." Jusis turned from the now silent student and took Millium by the hand to drag her out of the cafe.

* * *

The low hanging sun bathed the Academy Field in a soft red glow as the gentle summer breeze caressed the ground beneath them. Jusis had dragged her as far from the cafe as his tired legs would carry him. The pounding of his feet against the ground beneath him drowned out Millium's pleas to slow down. He was furious at her. The idea that someone who tilly-tallied around the world with Intelligence Division could act so childish and weak in the presence of such a minimalist threat both baffled and infuriated him. However, what had truly driven him mad was how he acted. He was physically angry, confronting, and drastically uninhibited in his choice of actions compared to his usual and noble phlegmatism.

"I'm sorry, Jusis. Okay?" Millium attempted to reach the distant classmate as she stood a few meters behind Jusis as he sat on the field, his feet stretched out before him and his hands tucked under his legs.

"Just go back to the dorm, Millium. Now's not the best time to do this. Just forget about today," Jusis replied a bit more coldly than he intended.

"I don't want to go back. There's nothing there for me. There's noone there. I just want to-"

"Why are you doing this?!" Jusis nearly screamed, his frustration lifting him to his feet and turning him around to face the distraught girl, "I don't understand you! You're so happy-go-lucky and callous with who you are, what you do, and even your past. You're an intelligence operative for divinity's sake! What were you so scared of?!"

Millium's hands rushed to her sides, fists clenched as her face turned as red as the sun that cast its glow upon her. "All I wanted was to make a friend! A friend, Jusis! The only person who has bothered to spend any time with me is Rean and I am the last person on his list of priorities! None of the other girls have me around and then there's you! You always have something to say, another unique way to put me in my place! You're a meanie and I don't like you! I wanted to like you! I wanted to be your friend, but you've done everything you can to keep that from happening!"

"Are you two doing alright?"

The sound of the foreign voice brought the two back to the serenity of the world around them. The person who had appeared before them waited in silence for their answer as the breeze continued to kick up the ground amongst them.

"A-Alisa, I hadn't seen you approaching," Jusis stammered, his voice forcibly calmer.

"I was on the other side of the field practicing my passing when I saw you two. What is going on, Jusis? Why is Millium crying?" Alisa asked as she stepped behind Millium, her hands resting gently against the blue-haired girl's shoulders as Millium did her best to hide her tears.

"It's nothing to be concerned of. She's just-"

"No, Jusis! None of this "She's just" nonsense! What? She's just a kid? She just doesn't understand? She just doesn't know how to act? She's just too immature?! I don't want to hear it from you, Jusis! Now tell me why she's upset or so help me!" Alisa wasn't ready to hear Jusis try to talk his way out of it. No excuses. Not today.

"Alisa, it's okay! It's my fault, kinda…" Millium acquiesced.

"Alisa, it wasn't her fault. I behaved inappropriately which only served to cause her distress. It is by no fault of her own that she is as she is right now. It is completely my responsibility," Jusis interrupted, his usual stoic resolve having returned to his voice.

"This is the first time I've ever seen her cry, Jusis. Fix this." Alisa was as firm as she was commanding.

"Understood," Jusis replied.

Alisa embraced Millium before saying the day's final goodbye. "It'll be okay, Millium. Alright?"

Millium nodded.

Alisa turned away from the two and began to head back into town. Millium and Jusis watched her in silence as the sun continued to set into the horizon. Finally, Jusis broke their silence with the sound of his feet carrying him towards the field entrance. Millium remained still, now watching him leave as Alisa was well out of sight. Unexpectedly, Jusis stopped and turned back to the forlorn girl.

"Are you coming?" Jusis asked calmly.

MIllium slowly approached him and stood at his side, her eyes forcibly away from the direction of his. Jusis slowly stepped forward and awaited her to make sure she would match her pace with his. When she did, he redirected his eyes forward again and began the walk back to the dorms. Millium remained at his side, silently, until they had reached the front doors of their residence.

* * *

Millium and Jusis stood outside the dorm doors in silence. Once they went inside, the shared living quarters with their classmates would provide them little privacy to say what they both needed to. Their only other option would be to adjourn into one of their rooms. Needless to say, that was out of the question.

"Jusis," Millium began, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay," Jusis interrupted, "You shouldn't keep apologizing for a mistake that I made."

"No, Jusis. I know I can act like a little kid sometimes, but I shouldn't have done what I did. I should have just left you alone. I know that now."

Jusis stepped towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "No. I could have been more accommodating to someone who only needed a friend, and it was because of my lack of reservation that caused such a disturbance in the cafe. I cannot allow you to place such blame upon your own shoulders. I promise that I will never place you in such a situation again. It was no way for me to treat a-"

Millium silenced him with her arms wrapped around his waist, her head resting gently on his chest.

"...friend," Jusis finished softly, his own words becoming difficult to muster as slight tears bathed the base his eyes.

As he uttered such a precious word, he could feel her arms tightening around him, her fingers burying themselves into his shirt. Jusis placed on hand on her head and let his fingers gently rise and fall against her soft hair once as silence overtook them once again. After a brief eternity, Millium released herself from around him and silently opened the doors to the dorm and stepped inside. As the doors closed, Jusis remained motionless. His eyes followed her to the doors and lost her as she stepped out of sight from him.

"I'm glad to see she's made a new friend."

Jusis snapped his gaze to the direction of the voice and stumbled through a response. "Sharon! It's not what it looks as… I mean… We were only-"

"Be still, Jusis. You have no need to explain anything to me. I am simply pleased to see she has made a connection with someone," Sharon replied with a soft smile, "I apologize for rudely interrupting you. I was out shopping for dinner supplies and when I saw you two, I decided to wait until I approached the doors. Please, do not let my presence hinder the two of you."

"We don't have that kind of relationship. She's just my... uh..."

"I see." Sharon stepped past the young man and put her hand around the grip of the door, pausing before stepping inside. "Though I didn't say you two were, either. Jusis?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful. If not for you, be careful. Sometimes people need more than a friend. That will be a decision for both of you to make."

* * *

Jusis was silent at dinner. Alisa did her best to redirect anyone who tried to engage him in conversation. Millium was back to her usual, happy self while Jusis quietly pondered the day's events at the dinner table. It had never dawned on him how lonely Millium must have been, though looking at her now you couldn't infer even the slightest as such. She sat in between him and Alisa at the dinner table. Hands flailing, food pouring out the sides of her mouth in feeble attempts to chew, talk, and laugh all at once, Millium was as happy and excited as she had always claimed to be. Despite how such behavior used to irritate him, when he looked at her now he couldn't help but smile.

His pleasant observance was interrupted by the sound of Millium coughing through a mouthful of food. Jusis took her glass in his hand and poured from the water pitcher into the glass before presenting it to her.

"Drink this, and don't speak with food in your mouth. Take smaller bites and chew thoroughly from now on," He spoke calmly as he raised the glass to her lips, his hand tucked just under her chin.

As Millium sipped from the glass, her hands occupied by both a knife and a fork, everyone at the table fell silent. Jusis replaced her glass to the table and took her cloth napkin in his fingers to dab the sides of his face. Before he did so, the weight of his classmates' gaze on his shoulders brought him back to the reality of the dining table. Their wide eyes and silent lips sent shivers through his spine. A red heat swept across his feet as his fingers began to shake against each other.

Milllium loudly cleared her throat and in usual high-pitched manner said, "Thanks, Jusis!" before stuffing her face once again.

Rean was the first to try to speak. "It's uh… good to see you two getting-"

"Excuse me," Jusis interrupted. He stood from the table, placed his used napkin by the side of his plate, and weaved his way through his friends' scattering of chairs to the hallway and up the stairs and out of site.


	2. Tomorrow

**Heero De Fanel - Thx for reading! I'm glad you have a degree of enjoyment with this one. PS, gonna try to fit some bookworming in at some point (i really like the pairing ;)**

 **Apex85 - I get what you mean, but I think she adds a bit of humanity in that kind of environment. As someone who lived in both worlds, I can appreciate someone like her. Maybe your experience might have been different, but at least for me, this is how I envision her.**

 **2**

 **Tomorrow**

The room was silent after Jusis had disappeared from everyone's sight. While their classmates may have found initial bewilderment at the sight of Jusis attending to Millium's dinner-table needs, the feeling was swiftly replaced by a solemn lack of understanding. Glances were shared about the room as each of them tried to piece together the scattered pieces of Jusis' newfound lack of public composure. Meanwhile, Millium's prior voracious appetite was long gone. She found herself chin to her lap, cutlery scattered about her half eaten dinner as she tried to muster the courage to leave before anyone could engage her.

Rean was, again, the first to try to say anything. This time, apprehension had found a foothold in his throat. He cleared his throat, silencing the various whispers fleeting about the room, before attempting to speak. "Millium? Is everything alright? Did you and Jusis... um..."

"Did you two get into a fight?" Alisa asked, a bit more coldly than the other dinner-goers might have considered.

"What she means is... umm..." Emma managed, "Did something happen today?"

Millium kept her head down and murmured into the lapel of her new uniform. Everyone at the table waited several moments for an answer until at last, Millium threw her napkin onto the table and tore into the hallway and up the stairs in the direction of her room.

A growing concern began to creep upon Rean and his cohort of friends. Her behavior was very uncharacteristic of the usual bubbliness and hyperactivity that she usually presented with. Instead, tonight, they witnessed a solemn, serious, almost drenching sadness enveloping her.

"I'll go talk to them," Rean offered.

"I'll go with you," Alisa added as she began to stand up from the table.

Chatter erupted from the table in an almost defiant manner. Michias and Emma began to argue with Laura on the efficacy of Rean and Alisa undertaking this task while Elliot, although politely and joined by Gaius, tried to dissuade the idea from Rean. Fie took this opportunity to resume eating while Instructor Sara and Sharon stood at the threshold of the dining-room, their attention diverted from their personal evenings to the ruckus that now echoed through the dormitory halls.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Alisa asked.

Emma and Machias stood, with Emma the first to make her offering. "Perhaps another approach would be more ideal, Alisa."

"What do you mean, Emma?" Rean asked.

Machias did his best to follow the President's words. "What we mean is, the two of you perhaps are not the best choice to do this... right now..."

"Sorry?" Alisa questioned as her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Please," Elliot pleaded, immediately regretting his words as they left his lips, "It's just that you two are... a delicate situation right now."

The room was silent again. A communal fear brewed within the depths of everyone, including Rean. Perhaps Elliot had said too much, but what was done could not be undone. Alisa's face turned bright red as she tried to keep her composure, her hands fretting with the hem of her blouse. As those painful eternities of moments finally passed, the natural color of her visage returned. She cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and pointed her nose to the ceiling above. Rean readied himself for her daily barrage. It was late in the day and he was about due for one anyway.

"I can understand your point, Elliot," Alisa began, "Considering Mr. Grabby's hands over there might make a break for the frill of my skirt as I try to negotiate the stairs."

Rean's shoulders hung low as he, knowingly futilely, tried to reason against her. "I want to do everything I can to amend that misunderstanding. I would never dream of doing such a thing, Alisa."

"Why dream of it when I'm right here, just waiting for you to pounce again?" Alisa said nervously, her embarrassment and desperation painfully obvious.

Rean pleaded her again. "I would never do that. Especially to someone like you, Alisa. Please believe me."

"What do you mean?!" Alisa demanded, "Someone like who?! What the hell kind of girl do you think I am?!"

Fie swallowed the last of her food before turning her efforts to the situation in front of her. "You two should just get it over with and just scre-"

"Okay!" Emma interrupted as she motioned towards Sharon, "How about Machias and I go talk to them? Meanwhile, Sharon, can we have some dessert?"

"Desert sounds good," Fie added, her mind now preoccupied with thoughts of tarts and pudding instead of what Emma refused to consider.

Sharon bowed and took the partly-inebriated and highly amused Sara by the sleeve toward the direction of the kitchen.

Once Machias and Emma had left the room, the others resided to patiently waiting for their desert. Alisa and Rean regained their seats with Rean trying to reason with the already decidedly cold-shouldered Alisa. Elliot did his best to preoccupy Fie's attention away from Rean and Alisa as Gaius, hand to chin, pondered this new experience. Laura stared at Elliot and shook her head.

* * *

"We just want to find out what's going on with you two," Emma said, "Can't we start with that at least?"

While Emma and Machias sat on Jusis' bed, Jusis paced within the room in an attempt to ease his weary nerves.

"It's as I said earlier. She was her... usual self and another student began to make slurs against her." Jusis' face reflected the dissonance between his words and his behavior. Machias was the first of the presidential pair to notice.

"Is that so?..." Machias asked open-endedly, "And that's all?"

Jusis took the chair by his desk and dragged it to the bedside before sitting down. He put his elbows on his legs, face into his hands, and let out a sigh before looking back at his friends. "No. It wasn't that simple."

"Tell us," Emma assured, "Please..."

Machias took a deep breath, paused, and slowly exhaled. "She came into the cafe. We argued over a suitable topic of public discussion until the other student accused me of... of... well..."

Machias and Emma leaned forward from their place on the edge of Jusis' bedside, their bodies lacking the patience of their ears.

"Robbing the cradle, as he described," Jusis finished.

Machias and Emma stared at Jusis in complete bewilderment.

"He was referring to Millium?" Machias asked for the extra clarity.

Jusis nodded.

"And that bothered you to the point that you sent Millium crying out into field?" Emma decided a more direct line of questioning.

"How did you-?"

"Alisa mentioned something of it earlier today before dinner," Emma said.

"Millium was crying earlier?" Machias asked.

Jusis did his best to explain. "I lost myself in the cafe. She stopped me from hitting the upperclassman before I..."

"Went off on her, huh?" Emma said.

Jusis nodded again.

"So what if he said that stuff? So what even if it was true? How did you of all people-"

"It's not true!" Jusis exclaimed, freezing Emma in her tracks, "I would never force such a thing on a girl like her! Any girl! It's because of people like him that... that..."

Jusis paused and buried his head back into his quivering hands.

"Jusis, I don't want to pretend to know what you're going through," Machias began, "Especially considering your situation with your own parents, but how you are now is shameful."

"Excuse me?" Jusis demanded.

"Jusis, you're a noble of the Albarea family. You said it yourself! Your duty as a noble is to the people! People like Millium. She needed you. She needed her noble to be exactly that today and you failed her." Machias' words were unforgiving but true. "That display of yours at dinner was also unsightly. You ripped the smile away from that girl's face. You need to fix this. You will fix this."

"Machias, please..." Emma whispered, "He doesn't need this right now."

"Emma, this may not be what he needs, but it's exactly what she needs," Machias demanded as he stood and made his way across the room and to the door. He paused, his hand around the door handle before stepping beyond it and into the hall, "If you have even a shred of your prior dignity, you will fix this now. Otherwise, you can remain here and hide behind your own selfishness and ignorance."

Jusis and Emma were left in the room to its silence. Emma tried to speak, mustering only partial breaths and pieces of words before dashing out of the room in pursuit of her vice president. The door now ajar, Jusis stared out into the hallway as Machias' words echoes between his ears.

* * *

"Millium?" Jusis spoke into the door as his knuckles collided softly against it, "It's Jusis. I was hoping I could speak to you about my behavior at dinner... and earlier today."

Jusis awaited a response as he stared at his feet. When none came, he tried once more.

"If you don't wish to speak to me, please tell me so I may try to do so another time. I'm sorry for who I was today, but right now I simply want to accommodate you."

"How sweet of you," Sara said from the opposite side of the hallway.

Jusis stammered as best he could to hide his surprise. "Instructor! I was, um, I was trying to speak to Millium regarding... something."

"I gathered that," The instructor huffed as a sigh left her chest, "She's not in there."

"Where is she?" Jusis asked.

"Why should I tell you? You've done more than enough for one day as I've heard."

Jusis stiffened. "I'm trying to rectify that."

"So if she doesn't like you, or won't ever like you, so what?" Sara's words carried with them gut wrenching pains for the young man.

"I really don't want that," Jusis let slip from his lips as his hands instinctively covered his eyes, "I really, really don't want that."

Jusis' tears were the proof she needed as she stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "There it is... That's what I thought... That would be unacceptable for a noble, right?

Jusis hands dropped to his sides. "Please don't tease me, Instructor. Today has been a trying day."

"She's on the roof, Jusis," She added as a smile crept across her face.

Jusis stared back at her.

"Go on then. You don't need any orders from me."

Jusis let out a deep breath and ran his hands over his blouse before calmly making his way towards the staircase.

Sara's whispers fell carelessly from her lips as he left her sight. " Even nobles are born foolish like the rest of us, huh..."

* * *

Jusis opened the door to the roof and desperately glanced in all directions. While Millium was nowhere in sight, he was greeted by what appeared to by a wall of white porcelain. He focused his attention on it as he cautiously approached.

"Airgetlam?"

Airgetlam spun around, revealing a distraught Millium resting upon his cupped appendage. Millium hopped off of him and thrust her hand in the air, cloaking her staple friend.

"Heya, Jusis," She muttered halfheartedly as she wiped her face, "Soaking in the evening breeze too, huh?"

"Millium, I wanted to talk to you." Jusis did his best to give her a comfortable distance in both his actions and words.

"I'm sorry about dinner," She began as she moved towards the edge of the building, her back turned towards him, "I can do better... really..." As those final words left her, Jusis could hear her holding in an emotional well of sadness as well as muffled sniffling.

Jusis approached her carefully and searched for his words as his own voice hid deep within him. "Millium, I'm sorry for being so unreliable and reckless. I want to make it right."

"It's okay. It's okay the way we are. I know that now. I know I'm more like your mother than your father. It probably is best for your sake if you and I don't hang around each other."

"How did you...?"

"I had to learn a lot of stuff working for gramps. I know a little about your family, but I can't say I really know you."

Jusis put a hand on her shoulder. As he did, he could feel her quiver in the night air. He wrestled his coat off of his body and wrapped it around her. Millium pulled the coat around her and slowly knelt down to rest at her feet as tears fell from her cheeks. Jusis stared down at her, waiting patiently.

"You know, I don't think I ever really cried before I came her. I wonder what's wrong with me," Millium managed to say in between fits of tears and chest-heaving.

Jusis knelt down to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me what would make you happy, and I'll do it."

Millium slowly turned to him, finally revealing her red, disheveled face. "Can I hold your hand?"

Jusis obliged and took her hand in his.

"It's what friends do, right?" She asked.

Jusis shrugged, his hand remaining around hers. "A first for me at least. Can't say that they do."

"Oh" MIllium muttered as her eyes traced down the length of his arm to the warm hand enveloping hers, "Jusis, do you think I'm pretty like the other girls? If I'm pretty like the other girls, do you think they will let me be their friend?"

"You don't need to be pretty to be their friend," Jusis said with a smile.

Millium bowed her head in disappointment.

Jusis placed his free hand against her cheek and guided her back to him. "But it doesn't hurt that you are."

Millium snapped her eyes to his, her face turning a deep-seeded red as she yanked her hand away before punching him. "You really are a meanie, Jusis!"

Jusis tried to deflect her soft strikes as he fell onto his back in laughter. Millium crawled onto him and continued her painless barrage. Eventually, Millium's hands stopped hitting him and found themselves resting gently on his chest as she lay draped over him. Jusis' laughter ceased as he and Millium met each other with their eyes.

"You really think I'm pretty?" Millum asked softly.

Jusis took her by the shoulders and guided her off of him. He sat up, legs crossed, and faced her. "Millium, could you wait for me to answer you until the time is right?"

"When will that be?"

"We'll see how much courage I have in a few years, okay?"

Millium sat beside him, legs crossed, and nodded. "If I have to."

Millium laid her head against his shoulder as the two watched the stars burn silently into the night. Her handing searching for his, Jusis let her fingers guide themselves between his as exhaustion finally overtook her. Eventually, he picked her up and carried her back inside and to her room. Gently kicking the door open with his foot with Millium in his arms, he carried to her bed and placed her within the covers. When he reached for his coat, Millium rolled over opposite of him and embraced the coat within her tired arms.

Tomorrow. He could get it back tomorrow.


End file.
